Clamp for hoops or bands



(No Model.)

J. W. GALLAI-IAN.

CLAMP FOR HOOPS 0R BANDS. No. 385,501. Patented July 3, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES \VEST OALLAHAN, OF NE? IBERIA, LOUISIANA.

CLAMP FOR HOOPS OR BANDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 385,501, dated July 3, 1888 Application filed April 18, 1888.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AM as WEsT OALLAHAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New Iberia, in the parish of Iberia and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clamps for Hoops or Bands, of which the following is a specificati-ou.

This invention relates to means for connecting or clamping together the ends of hoops or bands employed in surrounding and holding or confining the staves of tanks, cisterns, and the like; and it consists in the novel features hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawings illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of a tank or cistern provided with the improved hoop clamp, one portion of the clamp being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one portion of the clamp, and Fig. 4 is a modification thereof.

The improved clamp consists, essentially, of a pair of heads, A, each of which is adapted to be attached or connected to the meeting ends of a hoop or band, B, and provided with a screw-bolt, G, for drawing the heads together to tighten the hoop or band.

One of the main objects of the improvement is to provide a means for effectually securing the heads to the ends of a hoop or band, and this is accomplished in the present case by providing each of the heads with a slot, 10, extending entirely through them and wide enough to permit the end of the hoop or band to be passed therethrough, bent back upon itself in the form of a loop, 12, and secured in place by one or more rivets, 13, passing through the two portions of the hoop, as shown. The slots 10 are substantially parallel with the base of the heads, and afford extended bearing-surlaces for the loops of the hoop, and are thereby kept steady and in perfect alignment with the hoop. This mode of attachment of the heads to the hoop also enables them to be readily secured together, and should the hoop give out, the heads,not being permanently secured to the hoop ends, may be removed and employed with other hoops.

As before stated, as a means of stead ying the head A in the loop 12 of the hoop, the head may be of sufficient length to afford a long bearing therefor in its slot; but in practice I propose to provide each head with a tongueshaped piece, 14, of more or less wedge shape, and extending toward the rivets 13, so as to fill as near as possible the space between the two portions of the hoop forming its loop 12.

The heads are also each provided with holes 15 to receive the ends of the bolt (1, by means of which the heads may be drawn together in the act of drawing up on the hoop or band to tighten it around the staves forming the tank or cistern. One end of the bolt may have a sol id head and be screw-threaded at its opposite end, with anut for drawing the heads together; or, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, both its ends may be screw-threaded and each provided with nuts 8; or, as seen in Fig. 4, the bolt may have right and left screw-threads 6 7, entering similar tapped holes in the heads, so that by turning the bolt through its square portion 5 by means of a wrench the heads will be drawn together and the hoop or band effectually tightened around the tank or cistern.

The loop 12 may be formed by passing the end of hoop through the slot in the head and thence bent back and under the tongue 14, as shown, or the hoop end may pass through the slot the opposite way, so as to lie over the tongue, as shown in Fig. 4.; but the method first described and shown in the drawings is to be preferred because of its better finish in hiding the end of the hoop.

that I claim is- 1. The herein-described clamp for uniting the ends of hoops or bands, the same consisting ofa pair ofheads, A, having slots substantial] y parallel with the base thereof for'the passage of the ends of a hoop or band, and holes for a bolt, a screw-threaded bolt adapted to the holes,and means cooperating with the bolt for drawing the heads together, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described clamp for uniting the ends of hoops or bands, the same consisting of a pair ofheads, A, having slots substantially parallel with the base thereof for the passage of the ends of a hoop or band, projecting tongues 14, and holes for a bolt, a screwthreaded bolt adapted to the holes, and means cooperating with the bolt for drawing the heads together, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a pair of heads, A,

each having a slot, 10, substantially parallel with the base thereof, a projecting tongue, 14, and a hole, 15, for a bolt, a hoop or band the meeting ends of which are passed through I 5 slots in the heads and turned back in the form JAMES W'EST OALLAHAN.

of loops embracing the tongues, a screw- In testimony whereof I have signed myname scribing witnesses.

threaded bolt adapted to the holes,and means Witnesses: oo-operating with the bolt for drawing the EUG. HENRY, heads and the ends of the hoop or band to- W. J. BURKE.

1o gether, substantially as described. I

to this specification in the presence of two sub- 

